In the first battle of the Korean War, Mr. Peng determined the strategy of "attacking from the east to the west" according to the enemy's situation, and decided to concentrate the 38th, 39th, and 40th Armies and the 125th Division of the 42nd Army on the western front, annihilate the 1st, 6th, and 8th Divisions of the ROK Army, and the main force of the 66th Army immediately entered Korea, advanced in the direction of Iron Mountain, prepared to block the British 27th Brigade, and used the 42nd Army (indebted to the 125th Division) to block the US 10th Army and the ROK 1st Army in the eastern front, and to ensure the flank safety of the main force on the Western Front.
At that time, the US 10th Army had the 1st Marine Division, the 3rd Infantry Division, the 7th Infantry Division, the Royal Marine Commando, and the 1st Army of the Republic of Korea Army under the Capital Division and the 3rd Division, with a total strength of more than 50,000 people. Since the 42nd Army has transferred one division to the western front, there are actually only 2 divisions, with a total strength of less than 30,000 people, can it withstand the enemy's attack without air superiority, backward weapons and equipment, and fewer than the enemy? Although the facts proved to be resisted, before the war began, was Mr. Peng full of confidence?
The 42nd Army, with a modest record
The predecessor of the 42nd Army was the 5th Column of the Northeast Field Army, which was reorganized from three independent divisions in the spring of 1948, and the first commander was Lieutenant General Wan Yi. When liao yaoxiang corps was attacked, the 5th column annihilated more than 17,000 Kuomintang troops in the area east of Montenegro, and captured Changwen Xiaoshan, a lieutenant general of the newly formed First Army of the Kuomintang.
The volunteers were blocking
In February 1950, the 42nd Army was transferred to the northeast and prepared to collectively change jobs in Qiqihar and engage in agricultural reclamation. When the Korean War broke out, the army was the only combat mobile unit in the northeast at that time, and was incorporated into the 13th Corps, the first to enter the DPRK, and the commander at this time was Wu Ruilin, a famous "lame" general from the Red Fourth Front.
In general, among the units of the Fourth Field Army, the 42nd Army belonged to the units with very low qualifications, low rankings, and average achievements.
The 1st Marine Division with strong combat power
In the US 10th Army, I want to focus on the 1st Marine Division, to be honest, other units I also see the upper eye, senior military fans may have opinions, in the Battle of Chosin Lake, the 9th Corps surrounded the US 10th Army, the 1st Marine Division was almost crippled by the volunteers, and finally under the cover of aircraft and artillery, escaped from the sea, such a unit has the need to introduce? Don't worry, listen to me slowly.
The full name of the 1st Marine Division is the 1st Marine Infantry Division of the United States Marine Corps, formed on February 1, 1941, and is the oldest and largest amphibious infantry division in the United States Marine Corps, with a total strength of 19,000 troops at full strength.
During World War II, the 1st Marine Division participated in the Battle of Guadalcanal, the Battle of Gloucester, the Battle of Peleliu Island, and the Battle of Okinawa, and won three awards from the President of the United States, especially in the Battle of Guadalcanal, after the 1st Marine Division went to the island, with the support of the Navy, fought alone against the elite Japanese troops for more than six months, and finally had to be replaced by other units due to excessive casualties. You must know how strong the elite combat effectiveness of the Japanese devils was during World War II, and the Chinese army had a profound experience.
Another point, as we all know, is that the U.S. military uses a conscription system (essentially mercenaries), but unlike the First Marine Division, it only accepts volunteers aged 17-37, and the pass rate is very low. After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the First Marine Division received more than 36,000 applications, but in the end only 5,861 people passed the examination and became Marines, with a pass rate of only 16%. Therefore, the 1st Marine Division's will to fight is the highest in the U.S. Army.
Obstructed United Nations forces
Many veteran military fans said that in the Battle of Chosin Lake, if it was not the 1st Marine Division that was surrounded by the Volunteer Army, but other units of the US Army, compared to the 7th Army Division, then there was only one fate, that is, it was completely annihilated by the Volunteer Army, so the 1st Marine Division could escape from the encirclement of the Volunteer Army, not the poor combat effectiveness of the 1st Marine Division, which just showed that its combat effectiveness was strong.
The 42nd Army, which has an average record, has a chance of victory against the 1st Marine Division, which has strong combat effectiveness? President Peng not only let the 42nd Army fight to block the attack, but also transferred a division, which shows that President Peng is not worried about this problem at all.
Mr. Peng was not worried at all
The first is the topography of The Yellow Grass Ridge. Huangcao Ridge and Xiangzhan Ridge are the main peaks of the Wolf Forest Mountains, with an altitude of between 1,000 and 2,000 meters, large and small peaks stretching across the mountain, cliffs everywhere, dense jungles, staggered mountains, highways winding from the canyon to Huangcao Ridge, above which is a wall standing thousands of feet, below is the abyss of ten thousand zhang, this is completely a dangerous place of "one husband and one man, ten thousand and one man can not open", no matter how many troops can not be expanded, in the eyes of General Manager Peng, in such a place to fight and block, two divisions are enough.
Secondly, the military commander Wu Ruilin was a tiger general. When the volunteer army entered the DPRK, Wu Ruilin was only 35 years old, and it should be known that in the Chinese People's Liberation Army, it is not an ordinary person who became a military commander at the age of 35, not only that, Wu Ruilin is still an old revolutionary who has gone through the Long March, so although the 42nd Army has average achievements, Peng Lao always feels that there is nothing to worry about entrusting to Wu Ruilin the heavy responsibility of blocking the US 10th Army. Wu Ruilin's military command ability was just that, in the Battle of Huangcaoling, he became the first person in the volunteer army to "bury the US tanks alive".
In the blockade war, the most headache of the volunteer army was the enemy's tanks, and in the Battle of Huangcaoling, Wu Ruilin did not eat the loss of tanks, he had been thinking about how to eliminate the tanks, not to mention, he really figured out a way. He said to the soldiers: "We are cliffs on both sides, so we might as well take advantage of this and let's bury the tanks!" How much is buried and how much is buried! ”
When the soldiers listened, this method was good, the perfect use of the terrain, almost no casualties, and a large number of tanks buried alive, it was simply amazing. The 124th Division immediately moved to determine the encirclement, bury the explosives, get the detonation device, and then wait for the rabbit.
Finally, one by one, the American tanks entered the encirclement, with a "boom!" The shouting was issued, the surrounding mountains collapsed in an instant, accompanied by an earth-shattering noise, and before the US military could react, dozens of tanks were buried in the collapsed mountains.
Bury the tank alive
The equipment of the Third 42nd Army is not bad. Compared with the U.S. Army, the equipment of the 42nd Army is certainly worse, there are no aircraft, and there are fewer guns, but in addition, almost like the U.S. Army, it is the top in the Volunteer Army.
In the area east of Montenegro, the 5th Column (the predecessor of the 42nd Army) annihilated more than 17,000 Kuomintang troops and captured Lieutenant General Changwen Xiaoshan of the newly organized First Army of the Kuomintang. Needless to say, all in the hands of the Fifth Column, receiving orders, the 42nd Army dropped its hoe, took up these weapons, and rushed to Korea, most of the soldiers of the 38th Army who were still holding three or eight large covers, saw the brothers of the 42nd Army, and drooled.
Not only that, before leaving, General Manager Peng gave almost half of the artillery on hand to the 42nd Army, after all, the 42nd Army had to face several times the enemy, due to terrain restrictions, people could not bring more, then give more artillery.
With the above three points, coupled with the cooperation of more than 2,000 local Korean People's Army, Mr. Peng is indeed not worried at all, and the 42nd Army has no problem blocking the US 10th Army.